Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 813 Palace Change
Chengtian Temple, as famous as Liangzhou Huguo Temple and Ganzhou Reclining Buddha Temple, is one of the three major Buddhist holy sites in Western Xia.

There is an ancient tower towering into the clouds in Chengtian Temple, named Chengtian Temple Tower, also known as the "West Tower".

The West Tower is made entirely of brick and stone and is over twenty feet high, taller than the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Chang'an.

Inside the ancient temple, on the Chengtian Pagoda, on the corners of the ridged brick eaves, there are iron wind chimes hanging, which make tinkling sounds from time to time in the wind.

On the tower, Yang Yuan and Ren Dejing stood side by side, looking towards the direction of the imperial palace.

Under the tower, three hundred light cavalrymen, leading their horses, stood quietly in the Zen temple.

If something bad happens, they will be responsible for protecting Ren Dejing and helping him escape from Xingqing Prefecture.

They would flee towards the Song army, which had already passed the Western Xia border and was galloping towards them day and night.

In the Xixia Palace Front Department, Palace Marshal Ren Decong picked up a snow-white handkerchief and gently wiped the corners of his lips.

Tonight, he is preparing a grand banquet to entertain his colleagues from the Palace Front Department.

Now, all the colleagues were lying on the ground, snoring loudly.

Ren Decong calmly gave orders, telling his people to give the antidote to his closest confidants one by one, and to temporarily detain those whose positions were not so clear.

After making sure that no one would go with him, he asked his trusted aides who had just awakened to take charge of one person each and chop off their heads on the spot.

In the lobby, the smell of alcohol was quickly permeated by the smell of blood.

Kaifeng Prefecture is also brightly lit tonight.

Ren Degong issued orders in an orderly manner, waiting for his eldest brother to succeed and then immediately implementing the plan to control the entire city.

Although several important government offices in Xingqing Prefecture were controlled by the Ren family, Emperor Li Renxiao naturally had his share of influence.

So the first thing they do is to pick out the sand.

In the palace, Empress Dowager Ren's trusted eunuchs and strong women have quietly taken control of Ximen.

These sturdy maids who are good at wrestling, as well as the strong and sturdy eunuchs, were all trained by Empress Dowager Ren over the years.

Once the battle to seize the imperial palace begins, the party attacking the imperial city must quickly break through the defense of 1,500 royal guards and penetrate this gate.

These eunuchs and maids armed with weapons were responsible for guarding the palace gates when the royal guards intended to retreat to the harem, and immediately opening the palace gates to welcome Ren Dejing's troops.

On the emperor's side, Li Renxiao had just received an imperial decree from the eunuch in the inner court, stating that Empress Dowager Ren wanted to see the emperor.

It's getting late, why does the Queen Mother want to see me?

Li Renxiao hesitated slightly.

The constraints of etiquette are only one aspect. The more important reason is because of the empress dowager’s identity. Her surname is Ren.

Although he paid his respects to his mother every day, Lee In-hyo had not seen the Queen Mother for a long time.

When paying respects every day, I would listen to the Empress Dowager’s voice through the pearl curtain.

He remembered the last time he saw the Queen Mother was at his coronation ceremony.

That day, Empress Ren became Empress Dowager Ren.

That year, he was sixteen years old and Empress Dowager Ren was twenty years old.

He still remembered that Empress Dowager Ren was dressed in mourning, and was as fresh and beautiful as an orchid in a valley, so pure and incomparable.

He really wants to pick it!

But he dared not.

Queen Mother...why do you want to see me tonight?

Li Renxiao's heart felt like a cat scratching itself.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind to go and meet her.

He didn't know why Queen Mother Ren wanted to see him at this hour, but he took a bath first.

When he saw Empress Dowager Ren, the pearl curtain was indeed rolled up.

Empress Dowager Ren stood between two ancient bronze tree-shaped lamps, her figure graceful, charming and bright.

Her smart and charming face was just like the beautiful young woman who had been widowed for three years that Li Renxiao saw on the day he ascended the throne.

Her skin is still delicate, clear and amazingly white.

As soon as he looked into those misty, clear and charming almond eyes, he felt a tenderness that penetrated into his bones and melted into Li Renxiao's heart.

He felt an inexplicable throbbing in his heart, and he felt that something might happen on this spring night.

Queen Mother Ren didn't expect that Li Renxiao would really come.

According to the original plan, the probability of inviting the emperor to the empress dowager's bedroom was very small, so it was just a small and dispensable measure.

The way to increase the probability of inviting him over is to pretend to be sick, or to pretend to be seriously ill.

But if that happened, it would inevitably lead to a big war, and even if the emperor came, it would be inconvenient for him to take action.

Ren Muyan knew what Li Renxiao felt for her.

A sixteen-year-old boy is still at an age where he cannot hide his thoughts.

So, that year, when she, who had been a widow for three years after entering the palace, saw the sixteen-year-old prince in front of the emperor's coffin, she saw the naked surprise and desire in his eyes.

Over the years, she lived in peace and security in the harem, and the emperor never dared to do anything disrespectful to her.

It was not because of her status as empress dowager, but because her surname was Ren and she had a father who was more powerful than the Western Xia emperor.

So, she thought, if she invited the emperor over, maybe the emperor would come?

Sure enough, Li Renxiao really came, and he was dressed in simple casual clothes, bringing only four personal eunuchs with him. He quietly entered the palace without asking for permission.

Like being a thief.

Queen Mother Ren couldn't help but laugh.

Li Renxiao looked at her smiling face. Her skin was as red as the morning glow that reflected on the white snow. She was so beautiful that it was hard to look at her directly.

That was the most beautiful flower in his heart when he was a young man.

Li Renxiao stood there, his mind was in a trance and he was a little dazed.

Something was going to happen on this spring night.

Li Renxiao's heart couldn't help but beat "boom boom" just like that sixteen-year-old prince did back then. ...

Yang Yuan secretly brought seven hundred crazy soldiers into Xingqing Prefecture and put them under the command of Ren Dejing.

The other one hundred stayed in Chengtian Temple.

If the situation is not kept secret and they have no choice but to retreat from Xingqing Prefecture, these soldiers with grenades can lead the way, and the effect will be very good.

Ren Dejing disbanded the 700 men assigned to him by Yang Yuan and sent them to different groups under his command.

In Sister Min's words, the Xixia soldiers had never heard of the noise, so let them hear it today.

Before three o'clock in the morning, Ren Dejing's trusted troops, mixed with Yang Yuan's crazy soldiers, totaling 2,500 people, quickly assembled and marched towards the direction of the imperial palace.

Under the arrangement of Ren Degong, the prefect of Kaifeng, they were dispersed throughout the city and moved around as patrol officers, on the pretext of searching for and arresting Jin spies to avoid any further trouble as they were about to recognize the Song as their overlord.

It was not until tonight that they put on leather armor, took up bows and spears, gathered together, and headed straight for the palace.

At the same time, ambushes were set up in various parts of the city.

It was just to avoid alerting the Tiger Control Army on duty in the capital tonight too early, so the attack was not launched for the time being.

They lay in wait, waiting for the sound of fighting to be heard from the direction of the palace.

The military commander on duty at the palace tonight is called Wang Jianyun, a Dangxiang Qiang.

Going back further, he was a Yuezhi, the same Yuezhi that Zhang Qian wanted to establish an alliance with for the Han Dynasty when he was sent to the Western Regions to fight against the Xiongnu.

Most of the Yuezhi people migrated to Central Asia, and some remained in the northwest.

Wang Jianyun was a very qualified commander. Although there had not been any major disturbances in Xingqing Prefecture for many years, and although the Western Xia court had already begged for peace from the Song Dynasty and the tense atmosphere of war had disappeared, he was still very dedicated when he was on duty in the palace.

Therefore, the sudden appearance of a team of 2,500 people immediately aroused his vigilance.

"Stop, who are you? If you move any further I'll shoot you!"

The soldiers guarding the city were the first to shout.

But the one who answered him was the armored infantry who rushed over with raised shields.

Immediately, there was a sound of swords and guns clashing outside the city, followed by shouts and curses.

The walls of the Xingqing Palace were not particularly high, but at least the flying claws in the hands of the crazy soldiers could be thrown up to grab the walls.

When they were halfway up, they used special buckles to fix themselves in mid-air, then calmly took out the grenade, raised their arms, and threw it among the royal guards who were rushing over to guard the city wall.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom!”

When the violent explosion occurred, the Xixia Emperor Li Renxiao was being dragged on the ground by four burly eunuchs, holding his hands and feet.

This is the Queen Mother's bedroom.

A fat woman with a face full of flesh came running over with a "bang bang bang" sound, and struggled to pull her heavy body up from the ground. Then she grasped her right wrist with her left hand, pointed her elbow at Li Renxiao's back, and slammed her body down hard.

"Wow~"

Li Renxiao suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ren Muyan lifted her skirt with both hands and walked in front of him gracefully.

Li Renxiao was pressed down so hard that it felt like there was a mountain on his back.

He couldn't lift his head, but he could see the feet.

Wearing exquisite neem wood clogs, her feet are slender and beautiful, as white as frost, as soft as jade, and as smooth as pearls.

Indeed...very beautiful.

Li Renxiao closed his eyes in pain...

……

When the explosion in front of the palace was heard, the originally extremely quiet Xingqing City suddenly became boiling.

Li Renxiao had no children at this time, but he had three younger brothers, Li Renyou, King of Yue, Li Renzhong, King of Pu, and Li Renli, King of Shu.

The three princes are all first in line to the throne.

Therefore, their palace was also a key area of ​​focus in the plan formulated by Ren Dejing and Yang Yuan.

Therefore, not long after the huge explosion was heard in the imperial palace, explosions were heard one after another in the residences of the three Xixia princes.

On the palace wall, Wang Jianyun ran back and forth, commanding the battle.

It’s just that the deterrent power of this unprecedented weapon, the grenade, is too great.

The soldiers whose faces were scratched by iron nails and iron sheets and who rolled on the ground howling, scared the others out of their wits.

Some crazy soldiers have already climbed up the city wall and started to provide cover for those who come to climb the city later.

"Who are you to trespass into the Forbidden Palace? You deserve to be put to death!"

Wang Jianyun roared angrily, but unfortunately it had little effect.

All over the city, under the joint planning of Yang Yuan and Ren Dejing, teams of soldiers suddenly appeared and seemed to be running around the city like headless flies, but they were quickly taking control of key defensive points in the streets and alleys, as well as the residences of all the royal relatives that needed to be controlled.

The battle was fierce, with the sounds of weapons clashing, fighting, crying, and the wailing of war horses mixed together.

Civilian men, women, old and young all took up arms, sealed their doors, and stood guard in fear and alert.

The imperial palace had been conquered, and Wang Jianyun led his men to retreat hastily to the harem, knocking on the palace gate and demanding to retreat to the inner palace.

Unfortunately, they could not wait for Li Renxiao's imperial edict to approve their decision.

The West Palace Gate has been opened, and Ren Dejing's troops are advancing as fast as lightning, aiming at the West Palace Gate of the Harem.

The one rushing in the front was Yang Shou, holding two sledgehammers.

Protecting him was Xu Cheng, who was holding a ghost-head machete and had two grenades hanging around his neck.

The eunuchs and strong maids served as guides, leading them accurately to the Empress Dowager's bedroom, the Queen's bedroom, and the talisman storage room where the jade seal, tiger talisman, and command arrows were kept.

Swords, spears, and swords flashed with cold light.

The warriors are valiant and murderous.

(End of this chapter)